Pomegranate Power

Many are intimidated by this ruby beauty despite its known health benefits. Clients tend to avoid the real thing and opt for sugary pomegranate juice. This of course cancels out the awesome antioxidant benefits.

Pomegranates have a short season that coincides with our winter holidays and our winter cold and flu season. Now is the time to become acquainted with this immune booster!

The fruit looks like a big red apple until you cut it open. Cutting it into quarters and then pulling back the skin like you would an orange section, makes it easy to “flick” the little red edible seeds from the inner membranes. Once extracted, the seeds can also be frozen.

My grandchildren are experts and would eat one a day if available. They snack on the seeds like popcorn!

According to a 2008 study, pomegranate’s antioxidant potency was found to be at least 20 percent greater than acai and blueberry. Pomegranates contain three times as many antioxidants as red wine and green tea. In fact, they contain the most antioxidants of any natural food. Pomegranates are known for having essential vitamins such as riboflavin, thiamine, niacin, vitamin C, calcium and phosphorus.

The diverse antioxidants in pomegranates are known to help clear arteries of plaque (and even reduce dental plaque build-up), keep blood platelets from sticking together, increase oxygen to the heart and lower the bad kind of cholesterol (LDL) in the body . The obvious result is pomegranate’s ability to help prevent heart disease.

Pomegranates are also known as an effective anti-inflammatory. They’ve shown the ability to inhibit breast, prostate and colon cancers as well as leukemia. Pomegranates also help prevent chronic, age related diseases such as Alzheimer’s and arthritis.

Here are some great options to integrating pomegranates into your holiday meals: